Verna Felton

Verna Felton is one of my favorite voice actresses in animation. Her rich vocal performances for Disney span decades. Unfortunately I never had the chance of meeting her, she died one day before Walt Disney passed away on Dec. 14, 1966.
Felton was responsible for characters like The Elephant Matriarch in Dumbo, she also did those few dialogue lines for his mother. In Cinderella she became the warm hearted Fairy Godmother, by contrast for the film Alice in Wonderland she voiced the ueber eccentric Queen of Hearts.
Verna Felton was Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp, the bossy Fairy Flora in Sleeping Beauty and Winifred, another elephant in Jungle Book.
I remember years ago listening to part of a recording session for Sleeping Beauty. She had a hard time with a particular line of dialogue for Flora. After a couple of failed attempts, she burst at the director: "I can't pronounce that sentence, who on earth wrote this?!"

Here are a few images from various stages of production, featuring Disney characters Verna Felton helped shape and define for generations to come. Love this woman.

Images: Disney, Heritage Auctions, Howard Lowery

For previous posts on Verna Felton's characters, go here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-queen-of-hearts.html

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/04/fairy-godmother.html

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/07/lady-and-tramp.html

A Mystery Photo

I can't figure out what is going on in this photo.
Ollie Johnston and Milt Kahl are looking into a mirror during production of Lady and the Tramp.
Ollie is presenting a pretty bad illustration featuring Alice in Wonderland. What on earth is going on?
This photo is a mystery to me, but any pic featuring Disney's masters of animation is worth looking at.

Retta and Mary

A wonderful photo showing story artist/animator Retta Scott with visual development artist Mary Blair. They are studying a baby alligator at the Griffith Park Zoo in 1940 or 1941,  I assume in preparation for Fantasia's dinosaur sequence.
Both ladies were enormously talented and had several things in common:
They worked in the animation department for several years, leaving and returning to the studio several times.
When not working at the Burbank Studio, they freelanced by illustrating Disney story books.
Retta is mostly known for her extraordinary animation of on the vicious hunting dogs in the film Bambi. Everybody at the studio was surprised when they found out that a female artist produced these powerful drawings of these villainous canines. Animator Eric Larson helped a little with the timing of the action, but he later gave all credit to Retta for creating the dynamic sequence, in which Faline is threatened by these dogs.
Mary Blair needs no introduction, her work at Disney has been the subject of books and exhibitions.
Both of these ueber-talented artists paved the way for future female Disney artists like Silvia Roemer (layout), Ann Guenther (background) and Ruthie Thompson (scene planning) among many others.

Look at the raw power in this sketch by Retta Scott.

A Mary Blair's sketch for The Three Caballeros. Unbelievable, appetizing color choices!

Donnie Dunagan

...is Bambi's voice. Early in 2011 I had the tremendous pleasure to meet him in Chicago while we were both promoting the Bluray release of the film. Donnie embraced his legendary work for Walt Disney, but for many years he preferred not to talk to anyone about his Hollywood career as a child actor.

Wikipedia tells you why:
Dunagan was born in San Antonio, Texas, but his family soon moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where they struggled with poverty. There at the age of three-and-a-half he won a talent contest prize of $100. Spotted by a studio talent scout, the family moved to Hollywood, where Dunagan appeared in a series of films  and soon became his family's main breadwinner. His career ended after he provided the voice for the young fawn in Walt Disney's Bambi. By the age of 13, Dunagan was living in a boarding house and working as a lathe operator. In 1952, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He became the Marines' youngest-ever drill instructor and served three tours in Vietnam, where he was wounded several times, before finally retiring in 1977 with the rank of Major. For his service he received a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart three times. Dunagan has said in interviews that he kept his acting career a secret while serving in the Marines.

Donnie turned eighty years this past August, but you would never know it. He still has the energy and enthusiasm of a kid.
Here is some early art from this extraordinary Disney film.

Look at how thick Bambi's legs are depicted here based on realistic studies. Frank Thomas preferred this approach, but Milt and Marc stylized the legs, and drew them thinner for contrast.

Comparative anatomy, sooo important! All mammals have the same bone structure, and it's very useful to know where hip bones, knees and elbows are compared to a human skeleton.

A Marc Davis story sketch for a scene Milt Kahl ended up animating.

A stunning study of light and shade in this incredible forest!

Looks like the model deer almost ate Eric Larson's sketch book.

Mary Blair Cinderella Art

Mary Blair played a big part in the success of Disney's Cinderella. Her rough color/environment sketches didn't make it to the screen as such, nevertheless her artistic sensibilities influenced the entire production. Mary wasn't only a color expert extraordinaire, she also knew staging and composition. In the piece above I love how the window's grid offsets the perspective of the ballroom's floor.  It adds interest and tension.
The other two pieces show Cinderella at her low point in the film. She has given up all hope.
Look at all those fascinating shapes and textures, all supporting the mood of the scene.
It was Marc Davis' idea to have the Fairy Godmother show up as she blends in with Cinderella's pose.
Marc and Mary had a mutual admiration society going on, they remained very good friends.

New Lectures with Virtual Animators

I am about to  start off a series of animation online lectures with my buddies at Virtual animators this coming Saturday, December 6, at 11 am US Pacific time. The last lecture was a lot of fun, I really loved interacting live with everybody.
This lecture's topic will be ANIMALS. Cartoony, realistic, anthropomorphic etc. I will again draw live and answer your questions. A lot of fun stuff to cover, and I'm looking forward to it.
Here is the link to sign up, in case you are interested:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/ANDREAS-DEJA-LIVE-ONLINE-.html?soid=1111314412804&aid=n0k3S41uxvI

More lectures to come in the new year, twice a month, every other Saturday. I'd love to hear what kind of topics would be most useful and interesting to you.

A Milt Kahl Autograph that almost didn't happen

During one of my visits to see Milt in Northern California I brought along a Colonel Hathi sketch, I had just purchased. Milt didn't animate any scenes with elephants for The Jungle Book, but he was involved with their designs.
When I asked him to sign the sketch, Milt hesitated. He said he doesn't like the way he drew the tusks coming out of Hathi's upper mouth. He used his fingers to describe the way it should have been drawn. "No, I don't want to sign this." My facial expression must have been utter disappointment, because that's when his wife Julie, who was also present, spoke up: "Oh Milt, come on."
He then picked up the rejected drawing and autographed it. I was happy!
It is unbelievable to realize how critical Milt remained long after leaving animation behind. I could never get an on the spot drawing out of him. At that stage in his life he felt that he wasn't up to his old standards anymore. I certainly respect him for that, and feel privileged that Milt took the time to meet with me.

Fred Moore Mickey Roughs

This sequence of drawings was done for a scene from an unproduced Mickey Mouse short film. My guess is that they date back to the early 1950s. Fred might not have been at the peak of his form anymore, but his work still showcases an exuberant joy for animating Disney's iconic character. When he took over from Ub Iwerks, there is a sense of ownership and self expression. Fred Moore was the right guy at the right time in the right place.
Just imagine what amazing work he still would have produced, had it not been for addiction and the tragic car accident on November 23, 1952.
But the work he did during his lifetime speaks for itself. It is a celebration of the human spirit, and therefor a celebration of life. Love on paper. This man deserves a book, filled with his art that continues to inspire generations. It will happen.

"Madame Medusa's Pawn Shop Boutique!"

Milt Kahl animated this line of dialogue, as Medusa is sitting down on her desk while she answers the phone. Initially upset at this late phone call, she then fakes a friendly attitude toward the caller.
The rough drawing above is unfinished and was retrieved from Milt's trash bin (Crazy...I know).
I LOVE the composition of this pose! Just-look-at-this-drawing!
It is a graphic masterpiece, full of personality. Her right hand is still leaning on the chair's back, before settling on her hip. As I said before, Medusa's body type is utterly unconventional in Disney Animation and it shows how Milt Kahl constantly challenged himself by inventing new, sophisticated designs.
Here are copies of a few key drawings from the final scene. Stunning crisp facial expressions!

I had a wonderful time at CTN. Met so many great, enthusiastic people.
It was a special pleasure to talk to several young folks from Russia about my film. I will be in touch with you guys.
New York was a lot of fun, too. Aladdin on Broadway is spectacular, I highly recommend the show.
Another great musical was Kinky Boots. Go see it!!

Jonathan Freeman

I will update my blog again toward the weekend. In the meantime I am off to New York to see my friend Jonathan perform Jafar on stage. As some of you might know he originated the role for the animated feature Aladdin...a while ago. Can't wait.
When I get back I hope to see some of you at the fabulous CTN EXPO.

Milt on Human Reaction

I am not sure if I recall this Kahl statement from one of his lectures, or if he told me in person.
It is an interesting comment on how a person reacts to,  let's say a loud sound, at a moment when he or she is focusing on something in particular. In other words, being interrupted.
Milt said he would hate to see the animated character turn right away toward the direction of the disruption. That way the audience is missing a "thinking beat".
His way of dealing with a moment like this one is having the character straighten up (after a squash), change expression according to how the character feels, THEN animate the head turn in the direction where the disturbance came from.
And that's exactly what Medusa does when she hears a loud noise coming from upstairs, where her  alligators are chasing Bernard and Bianca.
Medusa is studying a map before reacting to the commotion. Notice how Milt always keeps her eye in the clear among the messy hair shapes. The expression change happens at the beginning of her head turn, where the audience can see it clearly.
Of course there are exceptions to this "rule", but before breaking it, it's useful to know the rule.
Looking at these drawings, it is obvious that Milt's Medusa is a revolutionary invention.

Dancing Monkey

Some animators are great handling scenes that involve dancing. Eric Goldberg is one of them, so is Ken Harris and Ollie Johnston. Frank Thomas had the analytical mind to bring dance to life with unexpected moves and an absence of formulas.
This little jewel of a scene from The Jungle Book shows his extraordinary talents as an animator who knew about eccentric dance movement and how to break it down within twenty-four drawings per second. I LOVE this scene. All drawings are keys, there are no in-betweens. No live action reference was used, Frank pulled this one out of his head. Something is moving in an odd configuration at all times, yet as a whole the scene looks natural and very entertaining.
This is why I love animation, why I adore Frank Thomas and why I keep trying to express myself through moving drawings.

The pencil test with sound loops twice. It is well worth studying.